Day 7: In which Jessica eats far too much falafel.

Newsflash:  I love falafel.  When I make a batch, I get really pumped about eating it for a few days in a row.  So delicious in so many ways.  I must confess, however, that the only time I’ve made it from scratch, it was a horrible disaster.  Therefore, I usually just use the Fantastic brand mix.  It’s silly easy and fast, and it makes a lot of patties.  I opt for the broiling method rather than frying, because I prefer my fat to come from the avocado and tahini sauces I add when it’s time to eat them!

happiness x 30

I make my patties pretty small, so I usually get about 25 out of that boxed mix.  It’s overwhelmingly awesome.  Because then, things like this happen:

lets rap about wraps

Wraps are the best.  When I’m not in a bread mood (rare), wraps really get me going.  All that delicious goodness in one hand-held, convenient form.  This one contains some special hummus (come back tomorrow!), sprouts, tomato, avocado, and some greeny green stuff all inside this awesome whole wheat wrapper I’ve been buying that is really sturdy and has less fat than most wraps.  (I’m not terribly fat-conscious, although I know it seems like I am in this post.  Basically, I eat a ton of avocados, olives, tahini, olive oil, nuts, etc, so I tend to try to cut the fat where it’s not necessary, like when it comes to deep-frying or hanging out in unnecessary items like my precious wraps.)  Ok, so while the wrap is really fabulous, my favorite way to eat falafel is like this:

lovely salad action

I love salad.  I really truly do.  Mostly, I love the add-ins and the salad dressing, honestly.  Falafel + sprouts + avocado + tahini dressing atop a bed of slightly bitter greens is pure wonderfulness in your mouth.  It’s filling, it’s healthy, it’s fast.  My go-to tahini dressing is super simple: tahini, nutritional yeast, lemon juice, dill, and water to thin it out.  This one also has some chives and sumac in it.

Speaking of sumac – I bought this giant tub of it and I generally love the flavor, but it gets really sour in larger quantities.  I haven’t found any recipes that call for it in my cookbooks (admittedly, I haven’t gone hunting though).  Does anyone have any suggestions as to how I should use it?  If I particularly like any one idea, I’ll use it this month and mention how rad you are.  How’s that for incentive?